why does water go down the drain one way...?

Question

1) In the Northern Hemisphere does the water go down the drain clockwise or counter clockwise?
2) Why is it different than below the equator?
3) Somewhere in the middle does it go down neutrally?

Answer 1

1) It all depends upon how the water was introduced and the geometric structure of the drain.One can find both counterclockwise and clockwise flowing drains in both hemispheres. Some people would like you to believe that the Coriolis force affects the flow of water down the drain in sinks, bathtubs, or toilet bowls. Don’t believe them! The Coriolis force is simply too weak to affect such small bodies of water.

2) It is different below the equator as if you take the example of a parabolic turntable. On a flat turntable the centrifugal force, which always acts outwards from the rotation axis, would lead to objects being forced out off the edge hence way the rotation is different in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

3) What happens at the equator? The Coriolis force is too weak to operate on the moving air at the equator. This means that weather phenomena such as hurricanes are not observed at the equator, although they have been observed at 5 degrees above the equator. In fact, the Coriolis force pulls hurricanes away from the equator.

Hope this helps

Cheers!

Answer 2

1. It is because of the Coriolis effect, or Coriolis force. Here is a website to help get you orientated with Coriolis.

http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/fw/crls.rxml

2. The earth spins counter-clockwise, that's why the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Try it, spin in your computer chair with your left hand being the east and your right hand the west. Which side does your computer screen appear on first? Where does it go out of site? Because of the counter-clockwise movement of the earth, in the northern hemisphere, the coriolis force causes things to spin counter-clockwise. In the southern hemisphere, this effect is reversed and it spins clockwise. In fact, a very rare clockwise-spinning tornado appeared on the east coast about a month ago, but it did not last long because the Coriolis force was affecting it.

3. I am not sure, maybe the equator would have some effect. That would be an interesting experiment.

I hope that I helped, contact me at [e-mail] if you need any more information, I could research some more for you.

Answer 3

Water actually can swirl down the drain in either direction and does not depend on whether or not you are in the northern hemisphere.
In the case of the toilet bowl the direction of swirl is influenced by the way the water is injected into the bowl upon flush.
There is some truth to the idea that fluid will swirl counter clockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere, however this phenomenon is only seen on very large scales, like that of a hurricane.
The force causing the rotational motion is due to coriols acceleration. This acceleration is one billionth the strength of gravity, thus it takes a large scale to notice its effect. The toliet bowl and sink are way too small for this effect to be noticeable.

Answer 4

1) It rotates counterclockwise in northern hemisphere.
2) It is different from that in southern hemisphere, where water rotates clockwise going down adrain, because it is related to the magnetic field of the Earth.
3) Yes. If one can precisely locate the position of equator on Earth and pour water down a drain it should go down with out rotating.

Answer 5

While you can force the water to swirl down the drain in the opposite direction, the natural tendency is for it to swirl counter clockwise in the northern hemisphere, and clockwise in the southern. It is due to the rotation of the Earth. In the equator, it can swirl either way without any natural tendency either way.

Answer 6

It is not a myth but fact. it's due to gravity and no there is now where that it pulls water straight down a drain. Water going down a drain Hurricanes and tornadoes turn counter clock wise in the northern hemisphere and clock wise in the southern. Just look at the world wide weather maps study the storm rotation.

Answer 7

No matter where in the world you are, the direction of draining water is determined by the shape of the vessel that the water is kept in (for instance the shape of the bath tub), and by the way in which it was filled.

The coriolis effect (which causes winds around high and low pressure areas to rotate in different directions in the southern hemisphere compared to the northern) is weak and will not affect draining water in an everyday situation.

Answer 8

It is actually the part of the drain that opens first that makes it go couter colckwise or clockwise. If you brought the same toilet from the northern hemisphere to the southern it would drain the same way.

Answer 9

This is a common myth. Water can ALWAYS flow in either direction down the drain. It depends on the shape of the sink and way it was filled. This myth came about due to the fact that on very large-scale, the Earth's rotation can affect things, but not a small bathroom drain.

Answer 10

it particularly is undesirable on your pipes. I found out the stressful way. The salt eats away on the liner of the pipes. have you ever considered the end results of salt water on grass, plant life, autos, boats, and so on...after a tropical typhoon/typhoon. It RUINS IT. It acts like an acid. additionally the nice and comfortable water can loosen the seals of the pipe joints that would reason leaks and further injury. The treatment for pouring in simple terms elementary warm water as in after cooking potatoes is to run your chilly water as your pouring down the drain. If he would not innovations dumping salt water exterior of the domicile then enable him.